Spiritually Healthy

This post is 4 times in the making.  Yep, that's right.  Each time I went to type something, EVERYTHING got deleted - major bummer!  My computer is acting up and giving me problems, so I think that may be it.   I had cute little fonts all made up and everything for each month that I was excited to share.  Oh well. The party must go on, right?  Even though this is not what I was hopping  or planning  on sharing for my 2015 list, it's what I have at the moment.  What's funny is that this isn't at all what I had "planned" and yet, here it is.  Just like this year, there were things that I wasn't planning, but have "happened".  I guess my posted getting deleted so many times was (in a way) God telling me that that's not how He wanted me to share this years events.  Funny how God works, isn't it? Also, I kinda am in love with The Last Goodbye (from the Battle of the Five Armies), so I thought I would share the lyrics with my ...

My pastor has said that we are musical beings.  It's just how God has made us. I always thought that there was something wrong with me for getting emotional during certain songs or when hearing certain instruments being played (for me it's the piano, violin, and cello).  I would sit at our computer and just cry over the tunes that these voices/instruments would produce and wonder what on earth was wrong with me.  But ever since I heard a sermon a while ago about God creating us to be creatures of a song/music, I have had a different (better) view of this and feel more confident about it - not proud or boastful, but confident in the Lord and His Word. Psalm 150:3,4  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Do any of you ladies (or gentlemen) enjoy The Paino Guys ?  I do!  I adore their "remakes" of certain songs/hym...

I realized that I never did a post about Thanksgiving!  Oh dear, oh dear.  Well, I guess it's better to be than to not be at all, right?  :p Thanksgiving.  Something we should be doing every single day is giving thanks to God for His continued mercies ( not getting what we deserve ) upon His people. Our day of Thanks was long; hard, full of cooking, tons of baking, roasting, cutting and serving, but! it was a good day to rest in knowing that God has given us more than we could ever ask for:  His Son Jesus Christ to die for our every sin.  Isn't that what we should be thanking Him for every single day of our lives here on earth? I am reminded of a song that we sing in church every once in a while, Be Ye Glad.  Have you ever sung it, or heard of it for that matter? In these days of confused situations. In these nights of a restless remorse, When the heart and the soul of the nation, lay wounded and cold as a corpse. From the grave o...

Time for another fun, literary list! (side note: Craig Duncan's  An Old English Christmas  is just lovely to listen to while writing. ;) Books To Read Before I Die The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dumas Tuck Everlasting  - Natalie Babbitt The Magic of Ordinary Days  - Ann Howard Creel Camille - Alexander Dumas  Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe Larkrise to Candleford - Flora Thompson The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  - F. Scott Fitzgerald A Walk to Remember  - Nicholas Sparks  Christy - Catherine Marshall Surrprised By Joy - C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis  Fried Green Tomatoes  - Fannie Flagg (I wanted to read this ONLY because I love the movie; after reading the book though, I DO NOT reccomend it) The Help  - Kathryn Stocket Reply - Ken Grimwood A Thousand and One Nights - Unknown Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell The Grapes of Wrath -...

How about it?  What do you think of my new look? I've used some of this before and yes, I know I change my look quite a lot, it's just that I like clean and fresh, and I didn't think I was getting that with my former blog appearance. If you want to find out how I created my header, click  here. Blessings!

There's something magical about sitting in front of a sewing machine and creating something with your hands, and, well, and a sewing machine! :p  I have been bound and determined to make something that actually looks good and has a practical use for a while now and so while I was browsing Pinterest, I found  this  pattern.  The instructions were very easy to follow, and the pictures helped a great deal.  I was a bit sceptical about the quilting part (I'm not the greatest at it), but I thought, "Why not?" I cannot tell you how proud I am of myself for FINISHING this, and for it coming out looking half way decent!  And this only took me a few hours to make!  Not bad, if I do say so myself. ;) The one thing I did change was the measurements.  I wanted a bigger bag, one that I could use as my Bible bag for church, so I upped the measurements by almost half. Here are a few pictures: I didn't have enough of one fabric for the lining, so I ...

Thank you, Heidi , for this fun tag! I thoroughly enjoyed writing these down and reliving some of the sweet memories that each movie brought! 1. A movie that kept you up all night.  Kept all night in a good way or in a bad way?  *thinks for a good long bit*  This may sound silly, but I don't think I've ever stayed up all night just to watch a movie.  I'm pretty strict about my sleep (it's vital for those with seizure disorders!) and what I watch beforehand.  If there has been a movie that happens to go late into the evening, I'll just nod off and watch it another day. I guess I'm off to a boring start! :p 2. A movie that made you scared to sleep. Even though I know that there is nothing real about this (e.g. aliens DO NOT exist!), the movie Signs scared me terribly!  Even now I don't like it.  I think it's really the music that creeps me out (it's really good actually).  The movie itself isn't bad (some langue), it's just scary. ...

Thank you  Heidi  for tagging me in this super fun award! The rules: 1). Thank the person who nominated you, as well as link to their blog. 2). Answer the 10 questions provided. 3). Come up with 10 more questions that relate to food. 4). Nominate at least 5 people.   I failed here. Sorry. 5). Let those people know they've been nominated. Heidi's questions with my answers :) 1. Your thoughts on cheese? No meal is complete without some form of cheese. But seeing as how I cannot enjoy the dairy, I will pass it on...though I'll still give the occasional sniff of it as it passes by my nostrils. ;) 2. Favorite pizza? Sweet or savory?  My favorite sweet pizza is a homemade gluten free, vegan fruit pizza that's tastes amazingly delicious!  If you want the recipe, click  here. My favorite savory pizza is onion. :)  3. Have you always had a “traditional” dinner (i.e. turkey and all the fixings) on Thanksgiving?   To the best of...

Literary Listography: My Reading Life in Lists.   I found this book on Amazon about a year ago and thought I'd try it out.  First off, I LOVE getting packages in the mail!  Please tell me I'm not the only one who loves receiving letters/packages?  There's something very old-fashioned (can you believe that sending mail has become OLD FASHIONED?) about it that causes me to think back to Elizabeth Gaskell and Jane Austen days. So, what is this book and how does it work?  Please, let me explain (couldn't help but say that in Inigo Montoya's voice from the Princess Bride).  The book contains many, many lists and each list has a title, such as Books That Made Me Cry, Fictional Characters I Would Not Get Along With (not gonna lie, I'm enjoying this one) , and Favorite Literary Lovebirds.   You're given a certain number of lines to record these books on and that's pretty much it.  While it may sound boring, it's actually quite entertaining. It...

Wait.  Hold on just a second.  What do you mean, "marry a martyr?" I was thinking about this the other day as I read about a very upsetting event that took place in a public school.  Not only am I heartbroken for the tragedy, but my heart also rejoices knowing that there are saints resting in peace at the presence of their King. With that, I was thinking on how courageous these souls were; standing up and proclaiming their faith, even in the midst of death. It made me think:  I hope to marry someone that courageous. Then said Jesus to his disciples, 'If any one doth will to come after me, let him disown himself, and take up is cross, and follow me, Matthew 16:24 (YLT) I pray that my future mate is not only someone who is godly, but who is also a Truth sayer; someone who, no matter the cost, will stand up and proclaim God's truth and Word.  Someone who will be willing. Wait. So you're asking for him to 100% free of fear?  That's not even possible...

So I stated in  this  post that two of my brothers and my sister and I were running a 5k dressed as characters from different books/movies.  Well, things changed. We still ran the 5k just not with our "main character".  My brother had to unexpectedly go out of town and he asked if we could wait for him to be all in character while we ran.  Wanting to honor his request, we decided to wait. So whom did we run as?  Well, my younger brother still went as his character - Thomas from James Dashner's The Maze Runner.   And while Anna and I were going to be running as Short Round and Marion Ravenwood from the  Indiana Jones films,  we thought of something different (actually my sister did!).  Anna dressed as Annabeth Chase from the  Percy Jackson books while I was Piper Mclean. Here's what Thomas' character looks like in the movie - And here's my brother's version -  He did such a good job on both his outfit and h...

This is where I faulter - in prayer.  I've always struggled with deep and consistant prayer before God.  I read  this (Praying to God in secret)  the other day and was hit with the realization that I don't pray as I ought (whenever I say the word "ought" it reminds me of the hymn "We have not known Thee as we ought"...have you heard it?  It's a lovely song with great, convicting words). Matthew 6:6 says, "But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly." (YLT) Notice how it says " But... when  thou pray... "  Not if you pray .  That right there was like a kick in the pants - it always is!  My pastor has done sermons on Jesus' Blueprint for prayer and without any dout, it always shakes my core.  Cause me act, O LORD! Matthew 6:7 says, "And -- praying -- ye may not use vain repetitions ...

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has ever heard of Raffi.  You know, Baby Beluga ? The other day I was looking on YouTube for some baby songs to learn and sing to my niece - I wanted something a bit more different than " Rock a Bye Baby" but not too modern that it wasn't still soft and delicate. Before I share the sweet little song that I'm learning, I must tell you how much I ADORE Raffi and his songs!  I grew up listening to him sing Peanut Butter Sandwich, Brush Your Teeth, Baby Beluga, C-A-N-A-D-A, Frere Jacques, and many more.  His voice was (and is, he still puts on concerts!) very soft and soothing to listen to.  I literary cold fall asleep listening to him sing.  With that, I wanted one of his songs to sing to my niece.  I don't have a singing voice at all, but at that young tender age they don't seem to mind. *winks* My brother and his wife had a western wedding and they both are very horsey.  So when I came across Listen to t...

I simply couldn't help myself.  I just had to copy the questions from Heidi's blog and post my own answers.  Please don't dislike me for it! The "game" is a bunch of questions about books that you fill in with your own answers...simple enough, right?  Not so much for a book-lover like myself. :p 1. What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it? Believe it or not, but the last books I read where actually children's books!  They were by Max Lucado and the names were With You All the Way, and Because I Love You.   I was helping my sister-law with a few things (one was my precious niece) and when I had a free moment, I picked up both books and read them - they are simply wonderful!  The messages are powerful; the adventures griping, and even though they're written for children, I was convicted and caught up in every word and every page!  So yes, I would most definitely recommend them! :) 2. Describe the perfect r...